There are plenty of criticisms offered against today’s American youth and young adults. And despite the fact that I turn forty in a few weeks, I still consider myself among them: a kindred spirit of cultural orphans, still sifting through the detritus of an evaporating American Dream to figure out...

Then I took a good look at everything I’d done, looked at all the sweat and hard work. But when I looked, I saw nothing but smoke. Smoke and spitting into the wind. There was nothing to any of it. Nothing. (Ecclesiastes 2:11, The Message translation) Death by Borders On occasion, working at Borders...

In 1990, in a lecture titled “Informing Ourselves to Death,” given at a meeting of the German Informatics Society in Stuttgart, and sponsored by IBM-Germany, lecturer Neil Postman—renowned author, lecturer, teacher, social critic, and luddite—concluded with these words: “…what...

I recently saw the DVD trailer for the movie, “Eat, Pray, Love” that came out last summer. It is the screen adaptation of the widely popular memoir by Elizabeth Gilbert of her year spent traveling the world in search of healing and renewal after a divorce. Julia Roberts plays Gilbert and the...

I should confess, right at the beginning, I am probably incapable of reviewing anything related to the Chronicles of Narnia in anything resembling a completely objective manner. Lewis’s Narnia books were some of the first books that I can remember reading, and I can’t remember a time in my childhood...

I’m tempted to write a satire called Christian New Year’s Resolutions.  It would go something like this: Pray without ceasing.  Ever. Don’t watch secular television. Become a physically fit Proverbs 31 woman. Read the bible every day and nothing besides it. Go to church every Sunday. Is there...

I could learn a few things from theologian, professor, author, blogger, and former football sportscaster, Scot McKnight. Yes, sportscaster.  More on that later. I recently finished Scot’s latest book One.Life. The book is Scot’s attempt to rescue Christianity from personal piety and...

I have been a part of Midnight outreach for four years, going into the streets late at night, reaching out to prostitutes, once or twice a month for four years. I also work for a federal grant program aimed at helping homeless and at-risk youth, most of our clients are either currently being pimped...

“All children are born artists; the trick is to remain one as you grow up.” – Pablo Picasso My most memorable creative moment happened when I was a small child of about five or six. It was a significant point in my life as an artist, but unfortunately, it’s all been pretty much downhill from...

The UPS man has been coming to our door a good deal lately. I’m not sure why.  Perhaps we’ve been ordering more than usual during this season as we prepare for our first home.  Perhaps there has just been a confluence of gifts from friends and family as we prepare for our first child.  Whatever...